Metal complexes of ruthenium: a potential class of selective anticancer drugs.

Metal complexes of ruthenium were subjected to a number of studies concerning their chemical behaviour and their potential role in medical applications. Particular emphasis was given to the examination of the antineoplastic properties of ruthenium complexes with a number of ligands of biological interest. The possibility of obtaining compounds of potential value in the chemotherapeutic approach to neoplastic disease is supported by observations that ruthenium compounds could interact with tumor cells better than with normal tissues. This interaction can be considered the result of the chemical characteristics of ruthenium ions which can confer much more selectivity than do the actually available and clinically used organic compounds or cis-dichlorodiammine-platinum (II). Thus, ruthenium-based compounds represent the way for introducing a new class of antitumor drugs endowed with a great potential for the management of human tumors.